1st Trimester

If I had to pick 1 trimester to skip over it would be the 1st.  It’s so hard.  I’ve been so beyond tired.  I wonder if it was really this bad with all of them, and I look back and realize: yes, yes it was.  The fatigue is unlike anything I can describe.  I don’t even think extreme jet-lag would reach this far.  The nausea is constant.  Sun up to sun down.  I’m short of breath without any visible reason. This pregnancy has hit me very hard.  There’s a reason you don’t see my face in yesterday’s picture.  My poor family has been living off of corn dogs and frozen pizza, and the weekly homemade meal from Silje.  Cooking has been very, very difficult this time around.  I’m starting to get through it.  I’ve started refining foods I am able to look at and smell, so it is getting better. 

We choose not to announce our pregnancy right away, but we’ve also realized there are some cases where we tell people early.  We found with our first pregnancy that it was very faux pas in our family circle to announce a pregnancy during the 1st trimester.  Sometimes we wait, sometimes we don’t.  There’s been various contributing factors.  Knut has begun “letting me” tell one or two people early so that I have someone to complain to besides him.  😉  I normally pick someone way outside our circle so that they’re not tempted to tell people.  This time we announced it at 9 weeks.  For those wondering, my due date is December 22nd.

As this is my 5th full 1st trimester, I have to say that while I cannot control so many things I’ve learned a few tricks to staying on top of it.

–Make time for naps.  When I don’t sleep, the nausea is worse.  When I don’t take the random nap throughout the morning, I can’t stomach lunch. The more sleep I get, the better handle I can have on my stomach…for the most part.  It’s important to remember that in the 1st trimester, your body is starting to produce a lot more blood so that it can be shared.  This also makes me feel like I am always short of breath.  Although the baby is not taking a lot of calories from me at this point, my body is working hard to make a great placenta, which is the organ the body creates just for each pregnancy that serves as the life support system for the baby.  Rest well, and let that placenta get good and strong.

–Always eat.  Normally when the nausea gets bad, I used to not eat for fear of throwing up.  I’ve tried to reprogram myself to see that nausea feeling as actually the “hunger pangs” of pregnancy.  It means I need to eat something.  If I can avoid feeling hungry, and avoid feeling full, then it’s easier to stay on top of the nausea. 

Pick Snacks Strategically.  I try to pick snacks that are easy and full of protein.  Crackers are traditionally good, but I can’t handle a lot of salt when pregnant.  For some reason it dehydrates me twice as fast as usual.  I really do well with unsalted nuts.  They keep me full enough to take away the hunger-induced-nausea, and for a decent amount of time.  I also follow the BRAT diet on bad days.  Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast.  Of course…not all at the same time.  However, these foods always settle my stomach in the 1st trimester, and renew a bit of the lost energy.  I was told about the BRAT diet by a pediatrician when one of my kids was sick with the stomach flu, and have found that it works for morning sickness too.

–Splurge on the good vitamins.  This is something new I’m trying with this pregnancy and so far I’m blown away by the difference.  In every previous pregnancy I’ve been anemic.  Every doctor I’ve ever had has prescribed an iron supplement for me on top of a prenatal vitamin that has a lot of iron as well.  My low iron levels have shown up in the form of testing, constant fatigue, and has caused excess bleeding after birth.  My iron levels barely budge with supplements.  One nurse told me during my 4th pregnancy that it should be taken with orange juice, and I should avoid milk around the time I take it.  Well, that would have been helpful information 3 pregnancies ago…

Anyway, I’ve learned that if I want my body to absorb any vitamins, it has to be through food.  I have to increase my iron in my diet, as no supplement has really helped with that significantly, although I will admit the orange juice did help a bit.  The supplements didn’t raise my iron significantly, but having “Cream of Wheat” every morning raised it up super fast.  So based off of that history, when I was at the natural food store the other day and saw a prenatal vitamin that was all food based, I took notice.  I wondered if the difference of food based compared to “the mystery way” of the the pharmaceutical tasting vitamins would make a difference.  It was 3xs as expensive as the vitamins at Target, but I thought I’d give them a try, as it still boiled down to about $11/month, which I think is still reasonable.

It wasn’t just me who noticed the immediate difference.  Knut noticed the next day after I switched out vitamins that my energy levels were better.  I take the pill at night, and the next day my fatigue is still there, but not so bad.  Before the vitamins, I was hugging the couch every morning until noon, when I decided I didn’t feel any better but I’d have to suck it up and get stuff done.  We’ll call that 10% of normal energy level, which is pretty normal 1st trimester for me.  After the vitamins, I’m functioning at, I would guess, 80% energy level.  I’m not my normal self, but I can actually get some stuff done. 

I’m still trying to maintain a healthy diet full, but I feel like I’ve got a bit of a safety ring around me with these.  For those wondering, this is the vitamin I got: Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin, and I see from linking it up to Amazon, that while I spent $33/ 90 day supply at the health food store I went to, they’re only $23 /120 day supply on Amazon.  So there you go.  It’s the first Prenatal vitamin I’ve ever taken that makes my stomach feel better, not worse.  Probably because it also contains ginger juice and probiotics.

Go to bed early and take a warm bath.  You normally don’t need to argue with a woman in her 1st trimester to go to bed early.  I’m used to going to bed around 11pm or midnight.  I’m a night owl.  Except now I go to sleep sometime between 9-10pm if I can.  Sometimes my body is so tired, but I can’t fall asleep that early and will lay awake for 1-2 hours.  So during the 1st trimester I often take a warm bath before bed.  I know HOT baths are not good for pregnancies, but there’s nothing against VERY WARM baths.  Also, I don’t stay in the bath long…just enough to settle down the brain and calm my fidgety limbs.

One friend told me she couldn’t stand a second pregnancy because 9 months of cold showers was just too much to take.  I was trying to figure out why on earth she was taking cold showers, and it was because her doctor said to not take showers that were too hot or go into hot tubs and she didn’t want to take any chances.  I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I had a warm bath often in my pregnancies as a way to manage nausea, and normal aches and pains.  I take a bath before I take Tylenol.  It’s my pregnancy cure-all.

I suppose I do a lot of “risky” things like that.  I heard during my 3rd pregnancy that pregnant woman aren’t supposed to have soft-serve ice cream, and yet I was at Dairy Queen weekly in previous pregnancies.  I’m more of a “everything in moderation” sort of pregnant lady.  I also like to think that a weekly trip to Dairy Queen in 2nd and 3rd trimesters is moderate. (I can’t stand soft serve earlier than that.)

Reconcile with Suffering: Notice that all of the things I’ve learned have helped me manage nausea and fatigue, but don’t eliminate them.  It’s probably impossible to do, but I think mentally I had to reconcile to that as well.  I’ve learned that when my head is spinning, I can still control my thoughts and say a little prayer for my baby.  I’ve learned that the goal of the pregnancy, or life for that matter, is not to try to obsess about ridding yourself of all suffering but to ask God to draw you near during the suffering.  Some things can be eliminated easily, and it’s good to do that.  Sometimes God doesn’t let you eliminate them, and that’s okay too.  Let me tell you, it can be an amazing spiritual journey.  I can hear God’s voice in my heart so much more clearly when I can manage nothing besides prayer.  Prayer time feels so much more productive. When I’m forced to lay on the couch, and even sitting up makes me run for the bathroom, I lay there and start talking.  I love that part of the pregnancy, and I know I lack the discipline to pray that way and that often should I not be sick at all.